The Past!

Aaron was amazed at Isabelle's valiance. As he admired the beauties of life, he suddenly overheard the words "advanced stage cultivator." His expression froze, and he was in a daze, wondering if he had heard correctly.

At that moment, Michael leaned over and said with jealousy, "We have five advanced stage cultivators in our school. Isabelle is the only female, and she comes from a common background to boot. She's really a genius."

Aaron was left speechless, realizing that Isabelle was stronger than him, being at the 6th Realm or above. Isabelle frowned slightly when she noticed the number of people she had attracted. In the end, she ignored the gangsters on the ground and left right away.

As Isabelle left the scene, the people crowding around also dispersed. Aaron and Michael parted ways at the school gates, and Aaron called an Uber to take him home. As the car rushed past the scenery, he was deep in thought when he received a text message from his mother, informing him that she and his father had finally returned home and missed him.

The more Aaron read the message, the deeper his frown became. He had seen faint memories of his real parents but never thought he would have to deal with them so soon. "What should I do?" he muttered to himself. "Hi, I'm your fake son Aaron, nice to meet you?" He sighed, reluctant to get out of the car.

The car's AI spoke, interrupting his thoughts. "Please disembark, sir."

"Fine, fine," Aaron jumped out. "I'll have to do this sooner or later."

***

As soon as the front door opened, a woman jumped in delight, and even her tired eyes lit up with joy. She rushed towards her son and embraced him, holding him close and savoring the feeling. Despite her exhaustion, Lucy's love for her son shone brightly, and she felt whole again with him by her side. "There he is! I'm so sorry dear, your father and I were too busy with work that we've neglected you for so long, we're so sorry!" she apologized, pulling him into a tight hug.

Aaron hugged his mother back, thinking 'It's too late, your son is dead.' But instead said "I missed you too, mom!" when she finally let him go.

"What about me?" a man came out of the kitchen with a lazy smile on his face. He smiled and started walking towards the mother-son duo, trying his best to hide the excitement in his steps but failing.

Lucy finally released Aaron from her momma bear hug, but at that instance her eyes frowned slightly when she looked at him. "You look... different!" she said, surprised.

"Does he?" his father, Joshua, said, slightly confused.

"Yes, look at him properly, you big oaf. He's taller, more muscular and even his skin looks better than mine," Lucy scolded her husband as she exclaimed.

"Yeah, I see it now!" Joshua quickly put on his best 'oh, I see it now' look on his face but failed miserably... again. 'He's definitely not a good actor' Aaron thought.

"Hey, dad," Aaron chuckled and hugged him too. Despite the awkwardness that should have been there, Aaron felt the exact opposite, especially when these two looked exactly like his own parents from his previous life. He could feel himself choking up as he remembered them, how much they loved him, and how they passed away before they could even see their son graduate.

"Don't cry, sweetie!!" Lucy started choking up as well, jumping into their hug, this time crying herself.

***

Aaron spent the rest of the day catching up with his parents, and learned that his grandfather had four children, with his father Joshua being the second. Joshua was a scholar who had started working at the Ferlier Corporation, where he had met his wife Lucy. However, due to conflicts between Joshua and Aaron's grandfather, they were no longer on speaking terms, which was why the family lived in an apartment.

Both the Ferlier Corporation and the Connel Group were massive businesses worth over a hundred million, making Aaron's grandfather a wealthy man. However, Aaron realized that in the grand scheme of things, their family was just a small fish in a large pond of global financial institutions.

In his past life, the Connel family had offended someone, leading to the downfall of their business. They had only managed to survive for a few months before going bankrupt and closing down, becoming a thing of the past.

This led to many disasters for the family, including mysterious deaths of his parents, grandparents and the rest of the family.

While having companies worth over a hundred million sounded impressive, it was ironic that they were nothing compared to the truly influential people in the world.

Aaron's life took a sudden turn after that, as he was constantly humiliated and embarrassed until he suddenly died, transmigrating to a new world. He wondered what will become of the Connel family in this changed world, and whether history would repeat itself.